Sealed indictment of JonBenet's parents to be released

Oct. 23, 2013
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John Ramsey looks on as his wife, Patsy, holds an advertisement promising a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer of their 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet, during an interview May 1, 1997, in Boulder, Colo. / Patrick Davidson, Rocky Mountain News, via AP Associated Press

by Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY

by Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY

A county judge in Colorado on Wednesday ordered the release of a sealed grand jury indictment against John and Patsy Ramsey in the sensational murder case of their 6-year-old daughter, JonBenet.

The district attorney at the time the indictment was returned had refused to sign the indictment and prosecute the case.

The Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder reports that the indictment will be released Friday.

JonBenet, a contestant in numerous child beauty pageants, was found dead Dec. 26, 1996, in the basement of the Ramsey home in Boulder several hours after her parents had called police to report her missing and that a ransom note had been found.

No suspect has ever been arrested or tried in the case. Patsy Ramsey died in 2006. John Ramsey remarried in 2011.

The order by retired Weld County Judge Robert Lowenbach came in response to a lawsuit by Daily Camera reporter Charlie Brennan and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

"It appears that the district attorney, presumably acting at the discretion of the grand jury, prepared a series of possible charges regarding John Ramsey and Patricia Ramsey based on the fact that the child had died and that there was evidence that a sexual assault of the child had occurred," Lowenbach said, according to the Daily Camera.

The newspaper reported earlier this year that the parents had been indicted by the grand jury in October 1999 but that then-District Attorney Alex Hunter declined to sign it or prosecute the Ramseys. At the time, he said only that the grand jury investigation had finished and that no charges would be filed for lack of evidence.

According to the court order, the documents consist of 18 pages, nine relating to each of the parents.

The Daily Camera reported on Monday that John Ramsey objected to the release of any secret grand jury indictment, calling instead for the release of the entire grand jury record.

The newspaper reports that Ramsey's attorney, in a letter to the Boulder District Attorney Stan Garrett, argued that releasing only the indictment would "further defame" Ramsey and his now deceased wife without a chance to disprove the allegations in court.